Party committed to being a strong federalist voice and will remain so in what he describes as a ‘very short’ minority.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L.—New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair said the fact that the PQ formed a minority government means it is unlikely there will be another referendum on Quebec sovereignty anytime soon.

“It’s a very short minority and I don’t think anybody is going to be rattling that one,” Mulcair told reporters at a news conference in St. John’s, N.L. on Wednesday, where the NDP is holding its summer caucus strategy session. “I think Ms. Marois will need to concentrate on her work governing Quebec.”

Mulcair said the NDP is ready to be a strong federalist voice in the face of demands from the newly elected pro-sovereignty government in Quebec.

“The NDP is a very strong federalist voice. We have always understood that you don’t just pay lip service to the differences. You work on them constructively,” Mulcair said, adding the surprising results of the 2011 federal election means there is a “pan-Canadian, federalist” party that holds the majority of seats in Quebec for the first time since the early 1990s.

Mulcair said that approach is recognized in the Sherbrooke Declaration, the policy paper that spells out the NDP position on asymmetrical federalism and what happens after a referendum on sovereignty.

“It is a clear expression of the understanding that we can have asymmetrical federalism that takes into account the differences between the regions and the very specific differences between Quebec and the rest of Canada in terms of its civil law, its majority French language, its cultural differences, these are all things that can be worked on,” Mulcair said.

“There is nothing divisive about that unless somebody wants to play politics with it and make it divisive. Where the NDP comes in, is we’re all about building bridges. We will let the other parties blow up those bridges,” Mulcair continued.

The document also says the NDP would recognize a “majority decision” — mentioned as 50 per cent plus one — “of the Quebec people in the event of a referendum on the political status of Quebec,” adding it would be up to the federal government to figure out the process “in the spirit” of the 1998 Supreme Court reference on secession.

It does not mention the Clarity Act, which is the federal law in response to the Supreme Court reference that governs any negotiations involving a separation of Quebec from Canada.

“It’s not a question of being at ease with it. I am proud of it,” Mulcair said when asked if he remained comfortable with the Sherbrooke Declaration.

PQ Leader Pauline Marois had said on the campaign trail last week that she would quickly begin confronting Prime Minister Stephen Harper with demands for more powers for Quebec, such as control over the provincial share of the Employment Insurance program.

Mulcair said he did not want to comment on hypothetical situations, but suggested the NDP would deal with those demands on a case-by-case basis.

“As these issues arise, we will work on our priorities. If an issue arises where we are able to talk about the importance of maintaining a program that exists in the public interest, we will always do that,” said Mulcair, adding the NDP’s strong presence in Quebec gives the party leverage. “That is a distinctive advantage in all of these discussions.”

Mulcair did suggest that he would prefer to see Employment Insurance remain a federally administered program, but noted there is room for flexibility and improvement.

“If there are some specificities that have to be taken into account, whether it is seasonal employment in the Maritimes, or certain things in terms of education and training in another province, that is all possible but I don’t think we should look at dismantling things before we look at the system and how we can improve what is already there,” said Mulcair.

The minority also means plans to create a provincial NDP in time for the next Quebec election will be put on hold, Mulcair said Wednesday.

Mulcair said the party had originally been expecting to have four years to accomplish its goal, but now that another provincial election could happen within a much shorter time frame, the NDP does not want to divide its resources in advance of the 2015 federal election.

“It’s still something we would like to be able to accomplish, but I am not going to start diminishing our concentration on our first priority, which is to defeat the Conservatives, and any dividing of our resources could produce that result and that would be a big mistake,” Mulcair said.

Meanwhile, Wednesday was also the first opportunity to ask Mulcair about the NDP returning $344,468 to unions and other organizations at the request of Elections Canada since the Star reported the figure on Aug. 26.

“It was one of the first decisions when I became party leader and I arrived, was that we would continue to remain in compliance,” said Mulcair, adding the NDP had “legal options” it chose not to pursue. “We could have fought it as other parties sometimes do with regard to Elections Canada. In this case, there had been an evolution in their appreciation of what was allowed. We’ve made those documents public so people can understand that we were in compliance and we have remained in compliance. There has been no other problem.”

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